TeamLab Borderless exhibition at MORI Digital Art Museum, Japan. — Photo Courtesy teamLab

THỪA THIÊN HUẾ — A digital art space called SốngLab will open in May in the city of Huế, bringing visitors a multidisciplinary space integrating technology, art, entertainment, and education.

Covering an area of over 1,000sq.m, SốngLab is the first digital art space in Việt Nam that will offer visitors a chance to experience digital art in a large area.

The space, which is jointly organised by Dương Đỗ, founder of Toong co-working space network, and visual artist Tùng Monkey, with the participation of many Vietnamese visual and sound artists, holds the promise of a uniquely elevated living experience for all visitors.

SốngLab plans to welcome the public by May 2023, and is devoted to becoming a source of pride and renewed connections for Huế residents, as well as a remarkable attraction for domestic and international tourists.

The opening of this digital art space plays a meaningful role as this year also commemorates 30 years of the Huế Citadel Relics complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In that vein, a next-gen entertainment and art space, equipped with avant-garde technologies and taking shape right at the centre of the former royal capital city, will be not only the pride of local residents but also an outstanding tourism product for national and international tourists, helping elevate the tourism landscape of Huế and Việt Nam in general.

“The scale of SốngLab is much grander than my previous projects. Rather than being located in flourishing metropolitans such as HCM City or Hà Nội, SốngLab is coming alive in old graceful Huế. This is a deeply interesting challenge for me. SốngLab, upon its completion, will set new standards for contemporary digital art spaces in Việt Nam,” Tùng Monkey said.

As curators, Tùng Monkey and The Visual 084 have been working with talented emerging visual artists including Dustin Ngô, Minh Nhật, Cường Nguyễn, Julian Tuấn, Kyunri Vien, Ngọc Quý, and Travis Cohantz.

Together, they are telling unique visual stories in the Huế-based digital art space. Audiences will get to be immersed in breathtaking experiences powered by state-of-the-art 3D mapping technologies, the same technologies that enabled large-scale art installations at Changi Airport and Marina Bay in Singapore.

Dương Đỗ, creative director and manager executive of SốngLab, says that he feels lucky to be supported by and collaborating with Tùng Monkey, as well as so many artists and artisans in Huế, Hà Nội and HCM City throughout the journey of building the 9,000sq.m commercial and entertainment complex SốngPlatform, the new heart at the heart of Huế.

SốngPlatform is a big leap in Đỗ’s grand vision to design a complete ecosystem for work, leisure, pleasure, art, shopping, cuisine, and education, which he started by founding Toong co-working space back in 2015. SốngPlatform is working at full capacity to open its doors by May 2023. — VNS